Engagement, Anticipation & Contentment

"Contentment is the equilibrium between the enjoyment of life now and the anticipation of what is to come. Contentment serves as a guard against desires gone wild. It is the key to unlock you from the bondage of unrestrained longing that wells up within your heart and inevitably begins to control your life, making you a slave to what you don't have instead of a fully engaged participation with what you do. It is the faith-filled belief that what God has bestowed now is worthy of gratitude and appreciation, not merely because it is enough but because it is good." Priscilla Shirer (Thank you, Jamesy, for sharing this!)

New Morning Mercies: Need

From 3-17 reading - "...when you tell yourself that something is a need, 3 things follow. First, you feel entitled to the thing, because, after all, it is a need. Second, because it is a need, you feel it's your right to demand it. And third, you then judge the love of another person by his or her willingness to deliver the thing. This not only happens in our relationships with one another, but more important, it happens in our relationship with God. When you name something as a need and God doesn't deliver it; you begin to doubt his goodness. What is deadly about this is that you simply don't run for help to someone whose character you've come to doubt. 

In Matthew 6:32, Jesus reminds us that we have a Heavenly Father who knows exactly what we need...the comfort is that, by grace, we have been made to be the children of the wisest, most loving Father that the universe has ever known. We can rest in the grace that has made us his children, knowing that our place in his family guarantees that we will have what we need." - Paul Tripp, New Morning Mercies 

Brave

Morning Reflections. #journaling #savoringthejourney

Wedding Wednesday!

Today, Andrew & I started a tradition I call "Wedding Wednesday", where we set aside time to pray together specifically for our guests (that each one would be blessed and encouraged) and for Jesus to be glorified in our wedding. 

I heard the phrase "Wedding Wednesday" years ago & the bride and her friends would get together to watch chick flicks & work on wedding plans. I loved the name, but wanted to make the tradition my own & prayer has been my anchor as a single. It continues to be my anchor as an engaged woman. And I keep thinking about my guests - each of them at a different season of life & I remember how going to God-honoring gospel centered weddings renewed my hope as a single & my fervor to pray faithfully for God's best in my love story. I went to one wedding in particular at 15 years old that challenged me deeply - what I thought about love, honoring the Lord, loving selflessly, and walking in purity. I'm praying the same for my younger guests - that they would be encouraged to wait on the Lord. That waiting IS possible by His grace and SO worth it! May He be glorified in our story & may each guest be truly uplifted in whatever season they are in.